The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Did anyone else read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as a child? From the second Alexander wakes up his day is bummer after bummer. Today was like that (I wouldn’t call it terrible, horrible since no one got hurt but you get the gist). Sometimes when I have bad days, I think about that book. I even catch myself saying in my head “some days are like that, even in Australia”. If you have never read it, then you have no idea what I am talking about.

I don’t like to be a complainer but today STUNK. I knew it was going to stink when I was having my normal morning phone chat with my mom on the way to work and burst into tears (here’s hoping none of my co-workers witnessed this on their way in to work). I just could not get my head above water. Every time I walked into my office the voicemail light was blinking (that red light makes me so anxious), I messed up multiple VERY important tasks and I was late to just about every meeting after getting caught up in other meetings. Do you ever have those days where it seems like all you do is run around yelling “SORRY!”? There were a few points throughout the day where I thought “Should I hide under my desk until the day is over?”. I didn’t. But probably should have. Anyways, as much as I know how important it is to vent, I also know we all have stressful days and it is really unappealing to listen to someone complain when you are just trying to get through your own stuff (seems kind of backwards for a counselor to say, right?). Actually, the other morning I put on a random workout video on YouTube and was taken aback to hear the lady complaining THE ENTIRE TIME. I am no stranger to huffing and puffing through a workout however, I needed motivation from this youtuber and she was being a real drag. She spent the video saying how hard the workout was, talking about all her injuries and breathing heavily into the camera. Rather than feeling pumped and getting in a hardcore workout, I ended up staring blankly at the screen and feeling melancholy.

Anyways. That story kind of got off track but I just thought it was weird and I wanted to share it.

My point is. We all have our stuff and it is ok to take a minute to vent but then it is time to move right along. I actually wasn’t in a bad mood considering the stinky day (perhaps they call that defeat?). And once I left the building I was done with that portion of my day and I was determined to have a better finish to the day. And I did! Sometimes I feel like I can will myself to have a good day. Other days I get chased through the parking garage by a terrifying drug addict.

So like I said…things turned around! My favorite staff member was working at the front desk of our apartment. He told me that Mike and I made an impression on him because we are always so smiley (also probably from the time he caught Mike “borrowing” a stack of paper cups and Mike got scared and put both his hands up like he had just been caught by the police) so that was pleasant to hear. Then I went for a walk with my friend Bridget. We seem to be in really similar places in our lives right now with work and getting married and such so it is just easy to have endless conversations. And THEN I was surprised with Mike coming home early. He opened his birthday gift from his parents and it was the Ancestry DNA test for BOTH OF US! I literally was just saying to Bridget two hours ago, how badly I wanted this. Mike and I jumped for joy! I sure hope we don’t discover we are related. I will let you know in 6-8 weeks.

So here are some things, in my humble opinion, that can make a bad day better: